2018 Instructor Biographies

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1 2018 Instructor Biographies Heidi Bukoski Henry & Roy Clemes Mary Egbert Heidi grew up in an artistic household. She learned to sew, knit and weave before going off to college to further her study of weaving and dying. She has spent her life increasing her knowledge of different techniques. She has experimented with most fiber processes and loves to combine them to achieve her desired end. The last 12 years she has become more serious about jewelry and working with wire in various ways including making it. She conducted her first workshops in the mid 70 s, took time off for family and children, and now teaches throughout the Midwest. teameffortartisans.com A lifefong woodworker and small business owner, Henry has been building fiber art equipment for over 45 years and drum carders for 38 years. Roy grew up in his family s wood shop and is one of few 30 year olds with 25 years of experience in his field. Together they have introduced may innovations to the fiber arts community and their equipment is known not only for being thoughtfully engineered, but also visually pleasing and durable. They regularly consult and instruct spinners, felters, fiber growers, and professional fiber artists in the use of drum carders for fiber prep. Mary is the owner of Camaj Fiber Arts, The Spinning Box, creator of the Eszee Twist Tool, and author of How to Scour Wool Like a Boss. She is a physical therapist by trade with over 22 years experience with multiple certifications in her field. She has written blog posts and made many YouTube videos about proper sitting while spinning, preventing injuries while prepping wool, scouring, and dyeing. She has also been published in PLY, Spinoff, and Alpaca magazine. Her fiber journey started in 2009 when she acquired her first five alpacas which quickly grew to be a herd of 25. She taught herself how to process, dye, and spin their fiber. Her fiber obsession quickly grew to other wools and silks. When Mary is not playing with fiber, you can find her walking on the beach or playing with her twin grandsons. Lori Evesque Lori has been interested in fibers for most of her life. This interest started when she was 8 learning to knit. She learned spinning 30 years ago in Australia. A background in chemistry and interest in growing plants lead her to try natural dyeing. Demonstrating dyeing through a Viking reenactment group expanded her knowledge. She has been natural dyeing, sourcing many dyes locally, growing many, for over 15 years. Expanding the range of colors possible from locally sourced materials, including Japanese indigo and madder, is a passtime she greatly enjoys and with it a desire to share her knowledge with other interested dyers. She has recently purchased a farm in Allegan where she has continued growing dye plants and finally has gotten sheep of her own.

2 Brenda Fish Barb Gallagher Robin Goatey Making things has been Brenda s lifelong passion. She has been involved with machine knitting since the early 1980 s when she acquired her first bulky knitting machine and stayed up all night to read the user manual and make her first sweater. After a brief experience as a dealer just before Brother stopped selling the machines, she relegated her machine knitting and knitwear design to a hobby while she pursued her 38-year career in automotive manufacturing information technology in Ohio and Michigan. Recently she has become interested in refurbishing vintage knitting machines, including updating the electronics. She s demonstrated machine knitting and the AYAB software and hardware hack at local Maker Fests. She is working on level 2 of TKGA s Master Machine Knitter program. Now retired from corporate life, she is exercising the artistic right side of her brain! She lives in northern Macomb County, Michigan, with her husband Ed, and pursues interests in various fiber arts, gardening, amateur radio, and tech. She blogs about her fiber experiences at Barb has been weaving since She has a BA in Art from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio, where she did her thesis on rug weaving. Her focus for the last 30 years has been primarily rugs, but she also enjoys weaving tapestries, and other useful items such as towels, scarves, shawls & throws. She s been teaching weaving for more than 15 years. She is a member of many weaving guilds and organizations. Robin is an award winning full time festival craftsman working Fiber Festivals in the Midwest, having recently served as Instructor at the John C. Campbell Folk School. Inspired by Tolkien s Legendarium, he started carving Ents, Wizards and Castles after reading the Hobbit four decades ago. Woodcarving, Woodturning, Hand Built Ceramics, Hot and Cold Glass, Coppersmithing, Enameling, Broom Making, Tool Making, Spinning & Navajo Style Weaving are current specialties. Teaching the Traditional Crafts is a passion. He also conducts a lively online trade in Heirloom Quality Hand Made Fiber Tools.

3 Teresa Goatey Teresa and her husband Robin both retired from corporatetype jobs and bought a small farm in central Illinois. She has enjoyed fiber arts for most of her life: sewing since her teens, rug hooking since 1980 and spinning and weaving since Since retirement, her focus has been on expanding and improving on her fiber skills and learning to care for her flock of Finn and Shetland sheep. Linda Harwood Gail Hollinger Letty Klein Bev Larson Ellen Minard Linda practices the early American art of rug hooking. Her skill and eye for color have brought her commissions both in America and Internationally. The themes, texture and color of the rural landscape emerge in her work influenced by her family life on a sheep and cattle farm. In her hooking she uses recycled wool as well as new material. She wants the hooked pieces to look old, therefore she over dyes the wool. She has been hooking since the early 1980 s and teaching since the early 1990 s. As a fiber artist Linda has enjoyed sharing her knowledge with others. Her work has been seen in magazines, books and on television. Visit her web at Gail has worked with fiber for, well a very long time and learned to spin on a cranky, antique flax wheel, oh a long time ago. Her museum work gave her opportunities to view historic needlework and needlework tools first hand. She has degrees in Art and Adult and Community Education. Gail has taught classes on many different arts and crafts including; spinning, weaving, marbling, metal clay jewelry, bookbinding, beading, constructing folk instruments, making boxes for rare books, e-textiles, etc. Curious folks can see more of my work at my website, including vinegar paint pieces and some of my ecclesiastical work; alter cloths, banners, and installations Letty Klein has been making custom braided rugs for over 15 years. She has raised Karakul sheep for 30 years on Pine Lane Farm near Kalamazoo, MI. and has judged sheep/fleece shows across the country. A graduate of Michigan State University with a degree in Microbiology, she is a retired research scientist from Upjohn/Pfizer Animal Health. She writes a column in the Black Sheep Newsletter. In 2006 she coauthored The Shepherd s Rug - a braided wool rug from roving She has been weaving since 1988 and teaching since She loves to share the joy of basket weaving with those around her and has done so by teaching in Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Wisconsin and the Caribbean on the Basket Weaving Cruises. Making basket weaving fun, relaxing and inspiring is her goal. In 2003 she won the Eiteljorg Museums Weavers Challenge. In 2009 she added broom making as an outshoot of weaving and it too is now a passion. Ellen Minard, owner of Ellen's 1/2 Pint Farm, has been hand painting yarns and fibers for thirty years. She travels to many sheep and wool

4 festivals and knitting conventions with her yarns, and has taught at various spinning & knitting guilds, fiber festivals, and Stitches. "The color inspiration comes from my own personal experiences, especially with nature. I do not have a degree in color theory, just a lot of time spent "playing" and experimenting with the colors, a few classes with some wonderful instructors, and most of all, a great love of vibrant colors!" Yes, you will learn in the class, but the most common comment after someone has taken a class is "I had a lot of fun and a great time"! Ruthanne Morningstar Chiaki O Brien Bex Oliger After moving to the country and finding herself bored, Ruthanne decided to take an Easter Basket class at a local craft shop. That was 35 years ago and now she is a Basket weaver, Instructor and confirmed beader, loom weaver, spinner, hand knitter, machine knitter, dyer, herbalist, and master gardener, etc. You all know the words to the story, but she still finds time to teach and share her knowledge, creativity and enthusiasm with others. Chiaki is a SAORI Leaders Committee Certificate recipient. She is one of the two certified instructors in Midwest as of Chiaki worked as an instructor for the SAORI head office in Japan. She brought SAORI Weaving to Minnesota when she moved from Japan in 2004 by opening a home studio SAORI Studio FUN. She has been planting SAORI Seeds whenever and wherever she can such as teaching at schools and participating in art related shows. Bex Oliger grew up in her mother s (Carol Leigh Brack-Kaiser) Hillcreek Fiber Studio. She started learning weaving and dyeing at a young age and has traveled the country for 35 years with the family business vending and teaching at Fiber, Weaving and Knitting Shows. She helped design and weave several of the projects in Carol Leigh s book, The Continuous Strand Weaving Method. Bex is now a knitwear designer; knitting, weaving, and natural dyeing instructor and consultant; and owns Hillcreek Yarn Shoppe in Columbia, MO. Rita Petteys Rita is the owner of Yarn Hollow, a hand-dyed fiber, yarn, and fabric company based in Grandville, Michigan. Yarn Hollow, operating since 2005, was born of a long love of fiber arts and color. Rita was a young knitter and crocheter who returned to knitting after college, starting with the mythic boyfriend sweater. Then came spinning and dyeing followed. Yarn Hollow focuses on color in all manners: pastel, bright, dark, muddy, neutral, saturated. Using a lot of careful measurements and the best quality fibers, yarns, and fabrics, the business strives to produce goods that vibrate

5 with life, color, and reflect the enthusiasm Rita has for the fiber arts. Rita has also been teaching dyeing and other aspects of the fiber arts since She has taught a variety of classes focusing on dyeing and color mixing, and has taught at yarn shops, fiber retreats, and fiber festivals throughout the Midwest. She has also taught at Oxbow, the Kalamazoo Institute of the Arts, and for the Michigan League of Handweavers annual conferences. You can find more about Yarn Hollow at yarnhollow.com Joan Sheridan Joan Sheridan is a weaver, knitter, spinner, fiber explorer and, since 2000, owner of Heritage Spinning and Weaving in Lake Orion, Michigan. Trained as an educator and curriculum developer by the United States Army, Joan is a natural teacher. She volunteers in the textile conservation department at The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, where she loves combining her passion for textiles with her fascination with history. She has taught and presented at conferences, festivals, for guilds and shops, and on tour in Norway. Amy Tyler Emily Wohlscheid Patsy Zawistoski Amy has degrees in modern dance, kinesiology, and physiology. She uses this background in art and science to inspire her fiber arts work. She spins, knits, teaches, writes, designs, and thinks a lot about process and creativity. She has had articles published in Spin-Off and PLY Magazine. You can find out more about her work on her website and blog: Emily has loved fiber, jewelry, and sparkily things since she can remember. After receiving her BFA from Adrian College where she studied metalsmithing and textile techniques, she learned to spin as a way to get back in the classroom. She now creates hand crafted jewelry and hand dyed fiber goods for her business, Bricolage Studios, and teaches classes and workshops both locally and throughout the United States in spinning, fiber blending, and jewelry/metalsmithing. Emily works from a cooperative fiber studio in Kalamazoo, MI where she enjoys the camaraderie of her studio mates and the occasional pint from the attached brewery. You can find out more about Emily's work, class offerings, and show schedule at bricolagestudios.bigcartel.com. Patsy understands the art and the mechanics of spinning. She receives accolades for her teaching techniques as well as her extensive knowledge of all aspects of spinning and spinning wheels. She delights in seeing her students reach that aha moment in their spinning skill set. Patsy s three videos continue to be favorites. Always creating, always refining her skills and knowledge, Patsy is sought after as teacher, workshop leader, and lecturer. Relaxed and thorough you ll enjoy working with Patsy in class.

2014 WMQFA Fall University Day: All About Wool Class & Teacher Description Three Hour Classes. Nancee Ariagno

2014 WMQFA Fall University Day: All About Wool Class & Teacher Description Three Hour Classes Nancee Ariagno Class Title: Applique Pin Cushion Make and take an adorable pumpkin pin cushion from a pattern